Earlene Camarillo, Ph.D., M.P.A.
Associate Professor, Politics, Policy & Administration

I am an Associate Professor of Politics, Policy and Administration at Western Oregon University in the quaint little town of Monmouth. My expertise includes public administration and personnel management, public budgeting, health care policy, and the American political system. As a teacher and mentor, I encourage students to examine how politics and public policy affects their lives in myriad ways. Through classroom discussions, I facilitate healthy dialog around controversial topics to promote civic literacy and community engagement. I am co-founder of the Empowered Communities Project, an initiative which promotes and facilitates opportunities to participate in deliberative dialogue and engaged learning in order to cultivate stronger, more inclusive local communities.

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As an active political researcher, I have a passion for exploring how the political system can be used to alleviate preventable health conditions and health inequities among populations, and I enjoy educating communities about the possibilities that exist. Currently, my research focuses on the role of local health departments in health care reform policies, and I look at the role of local public health officials during the COVID-19 pandemic. I also examine media coverage of Native American communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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